China News Service, Yuncheng, September 22. Title: Shanxi Xinjiang: "Harvest Festival at the Fingertips of Craftsmen"
Author Gao Yuqing Fan Lifang
"A layer of flowers and a layer of fish represents more than a year; a layer of flowers and a layer of melons and fruits represents the fragrance of melons and fruits; a layer of flowers and a layer of wheat represents the harvest of grains..." Another year when the Farmers Harvest Festival is approaching, In Xinjiang County, Yuncheng, Shanxi, Zhi Ouye, the inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage project Xinjiang Noodle Sculpture, is busy making the "Harvest Pagoda".
On the 22nd, in Xinjiang County, Yuncheng, Shanxi, Zhi Ouye, the inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage project Xinjiang Noodle Sculpture, was busy making the "Harvest Pagoda".
Photo by Wu Junjie
According to records, since the Song Dynasty, Xinjiang has a tradition of making dough sculptures.
During traditional festivals, every household here will use the finest wheat to grind into flour and make dough sculptures in accordance with local customs.
Pinching pigs, cows, and goats during Lantern Festival, tigers during Dragon Boat Festival, moon cakes during Mid-Autumn Festival, jujube cakes during Chinese New Year... According to the season of the year, people use white flour to shape various shapes for sacrifices and gifts.
Branches of lotus roots show their finished products.
Photo by Wu Junjie
On the 22nd, the reporter saw at the home of Zhi Ou Ye that a small piece of dough, after kneading, kneading, kneading, pressing, etc., turned into a lifelike fish after two or three minutes.
Prior to this, she had produced dozens of products with different shapes such as flowers, leaves, fish, etc., and placed them neatly on the cover curtain.
“The Longxing Tower, the iconic building in Xinjiang County, has 13 floors, so I thought of making a 13-story dough sculpture'Feng Harvest Tower'." Zhi Ou Ye told reporters that each layer of the tower has different shapes and different meanings. In the same way, she wants to welcome the farmers' harvest festival in Xinjiang County in her own way.
In addition to vivid and three-dimensional surface sculptures, Xin Jiang also has fine and beautiful paper-cuts.
At the same time, as with the branch of lotus roots, there was also Duan Pengzhe, the representative inheritor of the Xinjiang paper-cut, preparing for the harvest festival.
Duan Pengzhe cuts paper at home.
Photo by Wu Junjie
The new crimson paper-cut is mainly monochrome, rough but not ugly, clumsy but not clumsy, beautiful in shape, and rich in content.
During the more than 30 years with paper-cutting, Duan Pengzhe has created many works, which are closely related to the local culture, such as "Twenty-Four Solar Terms", "Di Zi Gui", Guan Gong series, opera characters series, etc.
In her view, before creating, “we must first understand the connotation of traditional paper-cutting, as well as the local history and culture”.
"This is the'autumn equinox' in "Twenty-Four Solar Terms", it is a harvest season, so cotton and sorghum can be seen in this work; that is the paper-cut of the Chinese zodiac with the theme of "Celebrating Harvest"..." Accept During the interview, Duan Pengzhe introduced old works and displayed new works to reporters.
In the next few days, she will walk out of the house again and tell more people the "New Jiang Story" through paper-cutting.
Duan Pengzhe introduced the paper-cutting works of the Chinese zodiac with the theme of "Celebrating a Good Harvest" to reporters.
Photo by Wu Junjie
A beam of light from the Han Dynasty illuminates the distant era and also illuminates Feng Huailin's dream.
In Wangshou Village, Quanzhang Town, Xinjiang County, palace lantern maker Feng Huailin is busy. It is the harvest festival of farmers. He has received many orders from customers, "some of them imply the joy of harvest, and some imply prosperity."
The production of a palace lantern includes 20 processes including material selection, design, flattening and polishing, hollowing out, and polishing.
Photo by Fan Lifang
Palace lanterns, also known as palace lanterns, began in the Eastern Han Dynasty and flourished in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. They are mainly framed with fine wood, inlaid with silk yarn and glass, and painted with various beautiful patterns.
On this basis, Jiangzhou Palace Lantern incorporates traditional art elements such as paper-cutting and blue and white porcelain to meet the aesthetic needs of contemporary people.
As the "Master of Folk Art in Shanxi Province", Feng Huailin's palace lantern "love" inherited from his predecessors, "My grandfather is good at carving, and my father is good at mortise and tenon joints. Come to me, he will do design, painting, calligraphy, literature, woodworking, carving, paint, etc. I have learned all the skills needed to make palace lanterns."
Feng Huailin's palace lanterns are made of exquisite materials and exquisite carvings, and his craftsmanship has become Yuncheng-level intangible cultural heritage.
Photo by Fan Lifang
The production of a palace lantern includes 20 processes including material selection, design, flattening and polishing, hollowing out, and polishing.
Feng Huailin's palace lanterns are made of exquisite materials and exquisite carvings, and his craftsmanship has become Yuncheng-level intangible cultural heritage.
As a famous historical and cultural city in China, Xinjiang's folk art "treasure" is far more than this.
According to statistics, the county has 71 intangible cultural heritage items, including 5 at the national level, 14 at the provincial level, 30 at the municipal level, and 22 at the county level.
Local craftsmen use their fingertips to create the "Harvest Festival", hoping to inherit and develop traditional culture through the harvest festival.
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